I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 609 

To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs health care center in Center 

Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, as the ‘‘Abie Abraham VA Clinic’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2017 

Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

EVANS, Mr. PERRY, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. COSTELLO of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. 

MARINO, Mr. BARLETTA, Mr. ROTHFUS, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. DENT, Mr. 

SMUCKER, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, and Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs health care 

center in Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, 

as the ‘‘Abie Abraham VA Clinic’’. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Abie Abraham of Lyndora, Pennsylvania, 

6 was stationed during World War II with the 18th 

7 Infantry in New York; 3 years with the 14th InfanVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jan 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H609.IH H609

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1 try in Panama; 15th Infantry, unassigned in China, 

2 while the U.S.S. Panay was sunk; 30th Infantry, 

3 Presidio, San Francisco; and the 31st Infantry, Ma4 nila, Philippines, for 9 years. 

5 (2) During World War II, Abraham fought, was 

6 captured, endured the Bataan Death March and as 

a prisoner of war for 31 7 ⁄2 years, was beaten, stabbed, 

8 shot, survived malaria and starvation to be rescued 

9 by the 6th Rangers. 

10 (3) Abraham stayed behind at the request of 

General Douglas MacArthur for 21 11 ⁄2 more years 

12 disinterring the bodies of his fallen comrades from 

13 the Bataan Death March and the prison camps, 

14 helping to identify their bodies and see that they 

15 were properly laid to rest. 

16 (4) After his promotion in 1945, Abraham 

17 came back to the United States where he served as 

18 a recruiter and then also served 2 years in Germany 

19 until his retirement with 30 years of service as a 

20 Master Sergeant. 

21 (5) Abraham received numerous medals for his 

22 service, including the Purple Heart, and had several 

23 documentaries on the Discovery Channel and His24 tory Channel. 


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1 (6) Abraham wrote the books ‘‘Ghost of Bataan 

2 Speaks’’ in 1971 and ‘‘Oh, God, Where Are You’’ in 

3 1977 to help the public better understand what our 

4 brave men endured at the hands of the Imperial 

5 Japanese Army as prisoners of war. 

6 (7) Abraham was a life member of the Veterans 

7 of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Purple 

8 Heart Combat/Infantry Organization, the American 

9 Ex-POWs, the Disabled American Veterans, and the 

10 American Defenders of Bataan. 

11 (8) Abraham was a volunteer at Veterans Af12 fairs Butler Healthcare for 23 years from 1988 to 

13 2011 and had 36,851 service hours caring for our 

14 veterans. 

15 SEC. 2. ABIE ABRAHAM VA CLINIC. 

16 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Department of Veterans Af17 fairs health care center in Center Township, Butler Coun18 ty, Pennsylvania, shall after the date of the enactment of 

19 this Act be known and designated as the ‘‘Abie Abraham 

20 VA Clinic’’. 

21 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, regula22 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 

23 States to the health care center referred to in subsection 


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1 (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Abie Abra2 ham VA Clinic’’. 

Æ 


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